In wireless communications networks, modern wireless communication devices, e.g., user equipment (UE), provide users more access to interesting and useful applications and functions than ever before. While this can be a huge benefit to a user, it can also contribute to distracting a user from important tasks at hand. For example, where a user, as a driver, is employing a cell phone or other mobile device in a vehicle, certain interactions with the user equipment can contribute to the distraction of the user that can endanger the user or other drivers. However, in contrast, where the user, as a passenger, is employing a cell phone or other mobile device and a vehicle, the same interactions with the user equipment may contribute to a dangerous condition for the user or other drivers.
Traditional systems for determining if user equipment is in motion commonly rely on the detection of motion in systems other than the user equipment. For example, speed sensors in the wheels of vehicles may be employed to determine the motion of a vehicle, and hence the motion of a user equipment inside the vehicle. However, this requires each user equipment to interface with each vehicle speed sensing system in a relatively seamless manner. This can be burdensome where there may be no set interface standard. Other traditional systems for determining if user equipment is in motion can be burdened by other technological difficulties. For example, an assisted global positioning system (AGPS) can be employed to determine the position of an AGPS detector, which can be co-located with a user equipment, to determine the position of user equipment. However, determining the position of the GPS detector can be power intensive, decreasing battery life for the mobile device. Further, AGPS capability is widely acknowledged to have substantial limitations resulting from geography, topology, or other forms of timing signal interference, such as building reflection, etc. These traditional systems, thus, often do not provide adequate information as to the relative movement of user equipment or can be overly taxing on the resources of the user equipment. As such, traditional systems often do not provide satisfactory results for motion detection.
Despite these limitations in effective and efficient motion detection for conventional motion detection systems, wireless carriers have attempted to limit or disable user equipment functionality based on UE motion. The results have been generally unsatisfactory as is evidenced by a lack of widely available wireless products that limit or defeat user access to the mobile device while the user device is in motion. Improvements to motion detection of UEs can lead to desirable improvements in limiting the use of mobile equipment in compliance with safety standards, ordinances, or conditions.
The above-described deficiencies of traditional motion sensing systems for wireless communications technologies are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with conventional systems and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.